PBHA Drives For Over 1,000 Toys

Children in and around Boston can hope to receive more than just a lump of coal in their stockings this year thanks to the Phillips Brooks House (PBH) annual Holiday Gift Drive.

The drive, which aims to collect over 1,000 gifts, began yesterday when PBH staff placed collection boxes across campus at prime spots including Memorial Church and the Freshman Dean’s Office. The two-week drive will end on Dec. 14, when the boxes will be collected and sorted, and eventually distributed to various non-profit organizations around Boston.

“This drive plays a huge role across different communities,” said Zandra I. Kambysellis, the department administrator of Phillips Brooks House who is leading the drive.

Gifts, which will end up in the hands of infants, children, and teenagers can include everything from books and art supplies to sports equipment and stuffed animals.

According to Kambysellis, PBH has hosted the drive for “over a decade.”

“It keeps growing year after year, both on the side of donations and on the side of organizations receiving toys,” she said.

While the drive is a staff-led effort, Kambysellis encourages student involvement.

“We are definitely in need of student help,” she said. Students can donate to the drive, as well as help to sort and organize the gifts after the collection.

PBH donates the gifts to several organizations including the YMCA of Cambridge, the Mission Hill Task Force, The Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), and Sociedad Latina.

Nicole d’Avis, director of education and health at Sociedad Latina, said that the gifts the group receives from Harvard are some of the best.

“They give us some really great toys, a lot of educational toys that are in keeping with our mission,” she said.

Sociedad Latina gives holiday gifts to over 300 children in Boston who otherwise might not receive any presents at all.

Joshua A. S. Young II ’90 said ABCD is also grateful for PBH’s work.

“The PBH drive is an enormous and vital part of our holiday toy drive,” Young said.

Young, the deputy director of communication coordination at ABCD, got his social service roots at Harvard College.

“I did an outreach to community schools program with PBH,” he said, explaining that the drive did not exist in his years as an undergraduate. Today, his work at ABCD affects over 3,500 low-income families or individuals in Boston.

“PBH makes it possible for some children to get the only toys they will have for Christmas,” he said. “The smiles and cheer on kids’ faces make it all worthwhile.”